Dominic's team returned to Camp Stymphalian a few days later.
News of the Halloween break in Lyon had spread through the group chat fast, and Dominic had wasted no time wrapping up Floor Two operations.
They came back dusty, tired, and satisfied.
Alexei did not come with them.
The half-Russian, half-Cuban paladin stayed behind.
Still in the "testing phase," as Phong liked to call it.
Dominic trusted him more now, but Camp Stymphalian had rules.
You earned the right to know where it was.
You did not get invited just because you were useful.
Alexei understood that.
Or at least pretended to.
Séline spoke first once everyone settled in.
"I saw something strange."
Camille looked up at once.
"What?"
Séline glanced toward the tree line.
"Horns of the Earth."
Silence dropped over the camp.
Even the animals quieted.
"Where?" Phong asked.
"Near the Floor Three entrance," she said.
"That thing walked right past us like we didn't exist."
Dominic nodded.
"Like a mountain taking a stroll."
No one liked the idea of a floor boss casually moving near deeper floors.
Especially when that bull could supercharge a biome with mana without even trying.
But that was tomorrow's problem.
Tonight was reunion night.
Hotpot night.
And Dominic was already halfway into storytelling mode.
They gathered around the big iron pot simmering over the fire.
Meat.
Vegetables.
Bamboo ant slices.
Dungeon mushrooms.
Carrots.
Everything went into the broth.
Dominic leaned back proudly.
"You should've seen it. The Wraith Fortress is basically ours."
Jake nodded hard.
Jack raised his drink.
"We were this close to making it a permanent foothold."
Dominic spread his arms.
"Strategic location, reinforced walls, cleared chambers, storages, fortified sleeping spots..."
Janet smacked him lightly with her chopsticks.
"The only reason we secured that foothold so fast," she said flatly, "is because the lizardmen helped."
Dominic froze mid-gesture.
She kept going.
"They diverted Lake Baratok."
Phong turned to her.
"You mean..."
"Yes," Janet said.
"They built a canal."
Dominic rubbed the back of his neck.
"…Minor logistical assistance."
Janet snorted.
"Minor? They literally connected the lake to the fortress."
The meaning was obvious.
With a canal flowing through the structure, the Wraith Fortress had effectively become a lizardman outpost.
That meant most Floor Two monsters stayed away from it.
Territorial instinct.
Predator politics.
Whatever the reason, the result was the same.
The fortress was no longer contested ground.
It had become a part of lizardmen territory.
A safe foothold under the Scale Throne, at least in the eyes of the monsters.
Dominic raised his drink again.
"…Team effort."
Everyone laughed.
Then Alex stood to show off her new armor.
The Greencap half-plate gleamed softly in the firelight.
Bird skull.
Lime tree emblem.
Perfect fit.
Dominic whistled.
"That's clean."
Jake circled her once.
"Invisibility enchant too, right?"
"One minute per day," Alex said.
Jack shook his head.
"Ridiculous."
Rico sprang up dramatically.
"My turn. Hennnn… shin!"
Wood creaked.
The young treant strapped to his back expanded at once.
Branches unfolded.
Armor plates locked into place.
Mana veins lit up.
Rico struck a pose.
Then paused.
Everyone stared.
Phong folded his arms.
"You remembered this time."
Rico glared.
"Obviously."
Bruno barked excitedly.
Nyx rolled her eyes, but secretly approved.
Dominic wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.
"This camp gets weirder every time I come back."
Eventually Dominic challenged Alex to a spar.
Now that he was level 31.
Stats up.
Fully understand the arsenal of a raging judgenaut.
He felt confident.
Very confident.
The result was educational.
Three minutes later, he was flat on his back.
A shield construct pinned one arm.
A rapier hovered at his throat.
Dominic groaned.
"…Yeah."
He raised a hand.
"I surrender."
Alex dismissed her constructs.
"That class is insane," Dominic muttered as he sat up.
"The Greencap captain already told you," Alex said.
"I know. Just have to test it for myself. In a one-on-one," Dominic muttered, "an evolved Mindblade truly is a nightmare."
Everyone drifted back to the hotpot after that.
Night had fully fallen.
Lanterns hung from the lime-oak tree.
Steam rose from the broth.
Talk shifted between jokes, dungeon updates, and Halloween plans for Lyon.
It was peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
Then Nyx's ears twitched.
Bruno's growl started low.
Phong lifted his head.
Something stood beyond the chili perimeter.
At the edge of the garden.
Just outside the invisible line.
A silhouette.
A woman.
Dominic squinted.
"…Emma?"
She stepped into the lantern light.
Emma Tannenbaum.
Perfect posture.
Perfect hair.
Perfect smile.
Except—
She was supposed to be missing.
Floor Three.
No signal.
No contact.
The group froze.
Before anyone could speak, Phong moved.
"Plants."
His voice dropped.
"All out."
The garden answered at once.
Angry chilies rose.
Bonktatoes trembled below the soil.
Sunflowers slowly turned toward the intruder.
Strawberry vines tightened.
Like tuning forks hit by an unseen hand.
Mutation pressure.
Astronomical.
Every plant was reacting.
Not to a diver.
Not to a monster.
To something worse.
The ground hummed.
Dominic felt it.
Janet felt it.
Even the animals sensed it.
The air thickened.
Emma tilted her head.
Then laughed.
A soft sound.
Pleasant.
Wrong.
A warning flashed across their status screens.
BOSS MANIFESTATION DETECTED!
Threat classification unknown.
Red question marks flickered above her head.
Level: ?????
Name: ?????
Type: ?????
Dominic's pulse kicked.
"…That's not Emma."
The woman smiled wider.
"Oh, of course it isn't."
Then reality tore.
Only for a heartbeat.
The illusion slipped.
And they saw it.
A mountain of swollen purple flesh.
Eyes.
Hundreds of them.
Blinking on their own.
Mouths opening and closing across its body.
Rows of teeth grinding.
Tentacle-like growths writhing, each one as long as the Golden Gate Bridge.
Something ancient.
Something alien.
Something dragged out of a nightmare.
Something on a catastrophe level.
Something that stood on equal footing with the Monstrous Phoenix.
Vast.
Wrong.
Then the shape folded in on itself.
Collapsed.
Shrank.
The monstrous bulk compressed back into the human outline.
Emma stood there again.
Perfect.
Poised.
Smiling pleasantly.
"It's easier to talk like this."
She folded her hands politely.
Still just outside the chili perimeter.
And waited.